Users of boats anchored to docking facilities desire convenient access to electrical power and other utilities such as water, telephone and, increasingly, television cable connections. The providing of these services has developed over the years to a point where the connections for these services have been conveniently combined into a single station or pedestal. The installation of such a station usually involves marking the location on the dock on which the facility is to be mounted, drilling holes and other connections in the dock, and positioning the station housing on the dock. It is then necessary to introduce the various utilities to the station housing and make the necessary connections to couplings, power terminal blocks and other such outlets in the housing.
One of the more time-consuming steps of this operation is the connection of the incoming electrical lines. In one common approach, the electrical lines are introduced through the bottom of the housing and then are connected to power blocks and ground terminals located within the housing about midway between the top and bottom of the housing. To make the connections, it is therefore necessary to have access to this central area in the housing.
In one known station, an access hole or window is formed in one wall of the housing. With a rectangular housing, this has meant that it has been necessary for the installer of the cable to reach through the opening between the two adjacent side walls to reach the terminals on the back wall. Also, it is necessary to reach through the opening and downwardly to the bottom of the housing to pull the electrical lines upwardly towards the midsection of the housing. The space is relatively restricted from side to side by the side walls. Also, the vertical height of the window is typically rather limited such that the upper and lower edges of the window also interfere with the convenience of the operation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,436 shows one example of such an arrangement.
In another system utilized, the housing is formed with corner supports and four separate panel-type side walls; and during installation the housing is sufficiently disassembled to enable one complete wall to be removed from the housing. While this increases access in the vertical direction, it does not appreciably change the side-to-side accessibility, since the side walls are still in position. More importantly, the strength and integrity of the housing is seriously weakened when a wall is completely removed, so that care must be taken in handling the remainder of the housing. Also, the disassembly and assembly steps are increased with this technique, and the number of parts or fasteners to be removed is increased. This further increases the risk of components being misplaced or, worse yet, falling off the edge of the dock and into the water.
In yet another system, the housing includes an internal base to which the electrical lines are connected. An outer shell surrounds the base and is positioned in place after the electrical lines have been connected to the base. This approach has the advantage of providing excellent access while the lines are being connected; but it has the serious disadvantage that the wiring from the terminal blocks to the electrical outlets in the walls of the housing must then be connected to the terminal blocks. Pre-wiring of the connections from the terminal blocks to the electrical outlet is not practical, unless inordinately long electrical connections are provided; and this in turn introduces an undesirable amount of wire to be stuffed into the housing when the two components are being assembled. Also, time is required to position and assemble the outer shell to the base.
All of the various systems used take a considerable amount of time which, in turn, adds significant expense because of the high labor rates for the electricians required to perform the installation.
In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a need exists for an improved system for installing electric and other utilities to a utility station or pedestal at a boat dock or similar installation.